The Grand Valley State first baseman remembers going for home runs when he first picked up a bat, his hitting coach, Dave Bergman, recalls telling his parents of his deep-threat potential at age 13, and the Lakers have certainly embraced his historic three seasons so far.

“I always had a little pop,” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, off the tee as a little guy. Always.”

The 6-foot-3, 224-pound Brugnoni provides an imposing presence in the lineup as the Lakers enter the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships in Cary, N.C. He has 13 home runs, 52 RBIs and a .320 average – making him an NCAA Division II all-region first team pick – for the Lakers (35-17), who open the double-elimination tournament 5 p.m. Saturday against Minnesota State (39-8).

Hitting home runs at the spacious Cary stadium complex will be difficult, but Brugnoni may be the one player on the Lakers roster who can do it, coach Jamie Detillion said.

“He has that kind of power,” he said.

The next home run will also be memorable, no matter when it’s hit. Brugnoni has 32 in his career, tied for the program’s career lead with Dustin Vugteveen in 2000-01.

And the junior has another season to go.

“That’s just crazy to me,” he said. “I remember coming in here as a freshman and seeing the records … and saying, ‘Whoa, these guys are great.’ Now, three years later, I’m in there shoes, and never did I think that day would come, but here it is.”

“That was my best personal memory,” Brugnoni said. “I mean, that never happens. The ball was the size of a beach ball that day. You can’t even talk about a day like that because no one even believes you. It’s like talking about that big fish.”

“He just crushes the ball, has that fast-twitch muscle and his eye-hand coordination is good when his mechanics are good,”Bergman said.

And he saw that from the beginning.

“I took his parents aside after the very first lesson and told him he has pro hands,” Bergman said. “He was just a kid and his parents looked at me and thought I was crazy. I told them, ‘You’ll see. Just watch what happens to him.’"